OK, so the new "Murdermobile" sequel has been on your summer reading list for a few weeks but you just haven't gotten around to punching the BUY button? Now's the time. To help push through the dog days of summer (and yes, a dachshund plays a starring role in this story), we've put "Corpse of Discovery" on a KIndle Countdown. It's on sale! Buy before Sunday for just 99 cents. And if you're still not quick enough with the BUY NOW button, you still have a couple days after that before it returns to the full retail of $2.99 (at which price you're still getting away with. ahem, murder). Plop down the beach towel, slather on the sunscreen, and happy reading. -- Barbara and Brian
We're celebrating the birth of our second mystery "child," and it's the size of a bookmobile. Does anybody have a cigarette? No, Hester and Nate don't smoke, and neither do their authors, but lifting a glass of bubbly wouldn't be out of hand, we think. We published this second book exactly one year to the day after the first. If you enjoyed "Murdermobile," this second story in the series has lots to like (we hope), with many of the same characters and settings. But what a different story, with quirky new characters showing up, ranging from the has-been cult of Rajneeshees who let it all hang out at a nude beach, to the great-great-great grandson (or something like that) of Sacajawea, and even the second-cousin twice-removed (or something like that) of Nazi propaganda-meister Joseph Goebbels, now the bratwurst king of Portland. Oh, and Lewis and Clark play a little role. History buffs, here's your cozy murder mystery. Thanks for reading. -- Barbara and Brian Cantwell Exciting news: "Murdermobile" is published in paperback! Go to https://www.createspace.com/4481587 or click on the link from our home page. Buy it through this link and the authors make more money than if you buy it elsewhere. ;-)
It's no big surprise that "Murdermobile" is collecting fans from Portland or with links to Oregon, since that's where the story is set. A couple of samples, with commenters' real or online names: SUSAN HANSON: I used to live in Portland and I'm familiar with the area. This librarian with the improbable name of Hester Freelove McGarrigle is not a prim spinster as her name might imply. I enjoyed the book because her character seems like a real person rather than a caricature. I liked roaming the streets of Portland with Hester and her magenta bookmobile. The cop-meets-the-heroine romance takes a satisfactory turn when the case is solved. The book is just a fun read. HAPLU: I have to preface this by saying I am a native Portlander and therefore enjoyed all her references to places in Portland But we are a little surprised -- pleasantly so -- at another focal point of "Murdermobile" fans: the great big state of Texas! We have no idea what makes it fertile ground for a story about a red-haired bookmobile librarian and a trail-running, pizza-gobbling cop who hang out in lefty-liberal Portland, but here are a couple comments from the Lone Star State: JUDY BROWN EYES (TEXAS): The book is so much fun! The biggest plus is having the Portland Bookmobile come alive by the talented pen of Ms. Cantwell. Do yourself a favor and get started on this series, it a great buy for the price. MYSTERYANDSCIFIWOMAN (IRVING, TEXAS): This was an entertaining cozy mystery, great for fun, light Summer reading. The major characters were interesting and the descriptions of Portland and surrounding areas allowed me to easily visualize them. I look forward to a second book in this series! In any case, thanks to all you readers, and especially those who liked the book and took the time to write thoughtful reviews. Ms. Cantwell (and Mr. Cantwell, too) are hard at work on that second book.
So, hmmm, we focused more on being storytellers than being historians.
For us, writing "Murdermobile" was a labor of love over a number of years, squeezed in between careers and raising a child. We always thought we had a good story -- not great literature, just a fun and entertaining cozy mystery that might be a good summer read. There are worse things to give the world. New York publishers didn't show interest, so it sat on the shelf. When e-publishing emerged as a viable, easy way to put a story in the public realm, we got all excited and took the plunge quickly. In the process, we revisited our story and, on a whim, decided to make our heroine five years younger by moving the story's date five years earlier. (Now that we think about it, we're not sure why. Perhaps it was society's relentless adoration of youth and the pressure to present a younger face to the world that made cutting five years off Hester's age seem a clever stroke. Or perhaps one of us just had a stroke. Maybe both.) In any case, it wasn't the brightest whim we've ever had. Moving the date up, it turns out, played havoc with the timing of a bunch of real-life events to which our story alludes, ranging from the O.J. Simpson trial to the advent of dot-com millionaires. It's sort of the same reason that time travel is so perilous: There are just too many tricky side-effects you have to watch out for. Noble reader, forgive us. One of you called us on it ("Hey, you said your story was set in 1991 but the Simpson trial wasn't until 1995!") and we have to admit we muffed it. So -- One advantage to being the publisher of your own novel is that you can issue a revised, second edition anytime you wish. So that's what we're doing. The new edition is now on Amazon. We've asked that they make the updated version available to previous buyers. We've restored the original date of the story, to 1996. Hester is five years older, in her late 30s instead of early 30s. In many ways, that age better fits her personality as we wrote her. It stands to reason that she's more world-wise, a bit more experienced in relationships, perhaps more open to trusting her own judgments of people and, well, forming close friendships in a flash. (If you've read the book, you'll know what we're talking about.) In the end, we're really just doing this writing for the fun of it. But we do take it seriously, because we're creating a world into which we hope you'll enjoy escaping for a few hours. And if that world has a problem with time warps -- well, that's just not right. Thank you for reading. We hope you'll join us for the next story, "Murdermobile 2: Corpse of Discovery." We're having fun writing it. -- Brian and Barbara Cantwell A rainy Memorial Day weekend at the island cabin gave us time to conspire on the next book, "Murdermobile 2: Corpse of Discovery." At the same time, Kindle sales of the first book (Murdermobile) hit 700 on the one-month anniversary of publication! Whee, as Mom Cantwell used to say. It might not be a New York Times bestseller, but if our fans out there tell their friends about it -- and add a nice REVIEW to our Amazon or Goodreads pages (or both!) -- we are going viral any day now! If you are our fan, welcome to the blog, by the way.
We're having fun with "Corpse" -- with the new(ish) "Sara Duffy Memorial Bookmobile" careening around Portland during the annual Rose Parade. Stay tuned, fans of Hester and Nate. |
AuthorBrian and Barbara are the B.B. in B.B. Cantwell. Here we'll share occasional updates on coming stories, plus general observations on the good, the bad and the ugly in the process (mostly the good). Please feel free to join in with a comment or question. Categories
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